Great Wall of China

Author: Zhai Dongfeng (Photography), Zhou Yuanzhao (Writing)
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Features: If one only looks at its appearance, the Great Wall is just an ancient building, or an ancient military defense system. However, it contains many aspects, such as military, politics, history, culture, geography, architecture, ethnicity, economy, and more. Every person has a different understanding of the Great Wall, and this understanding comes from their perspective and grasp of its essence. Most Chinese people know the story of Qin Shi Huang building the Great Wall, but in fact, people had already been building the Great Wall long before Qin Shi Huang's time. The scale of the construction was not as large as it was during his reign, so it remains relatively unknown. A scholar who studied the Great Wall summarized it in two sentences: "Two thousand years from top to bottom, ten thousand miles from east to west." This means that the construction of the Great Wall spanned over two thousand years, and the total length of all the sections built during this period exceeds ten thousand miles. Over these two thousand years, countless heroic and grand historical dramas have unfolded at the foot of the Great Wall. There were not only wars of life and death between ethnic groups but also periods of peaceful coexistence and harmony. However, whether in war or peace, the Great Wall has always been a bond connecting the people living on both sides of it. There is an ancient Chinese proverb that says, "Unity is strength" or "One heart, one city." Today, when we look back at the Great Wall, can we not also say: The Great Wall, the city of unity for the Chinese nation!